Upgrading from i5 2500k

[Nieldo]

Hi, I'm looking for some upgrade advice. I recently purchased a 3440x1440 Ultrawide 120hz monitor and have had to lower my settings in games to get my FPS up to 120. This computer is used mainly for gaming. I currently have:

i5-2500k @4.5Ghz
16Gb of Ram
GTX 1080

I'm currently looking at the i5-9600k and have around £500, maybe £600 to spend.I'm open to suggestions though, what do you guys think?

 

[tamzzy]

TBH, a GTX1080 wouldn't be able to push that kind of framerates without turning down settings anyway, not even a 1080ti/2080 could. you're looking at a 2080ti at minimum if you want to run everything at max settings.

case in point:
1) 4k/60hz = 497.7 Mpixel/s
2) UW 1440p/120hz = 594.4 Mpixel/s

 

[tamzzy]

however, if you're going to spend that much, then might as well spend a bit more (£650) and get a 9700k instead of the 9600k.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £379.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Gaming SLI Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £154.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TLGD= £119.99

Total: £665.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)​

​

 

[Nieldo]

Thanks for the suggestion, I would be happy running on medium settings in most games. Is the i7 9700k really going to make that much difference in gaming compared to the i5?

 

[Funky-Melon]

Get yourself a second hand 2600k, overclock it and you'll be within 10-15fps of a 9700k.

EDit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMFd0aVhVKU&t=561s - Start at 6:58.

The jump to an i7 is what will make all the difference for you. I did the same recently. Was going to upgrade everything but frankly, the majority on here spend hundreds, sometimes thousands for an extra few frames (it is an enthusiast forum after all) but for most, it's just insanely unnecessary.

 

[4K8KW10]

Thanks for the suggestion, I would be happy running on medium settings in most games. Is the i7 9700k really going to make that much difference in gaming compared to the i5?

When upgrading there is always something like a rule of thumb, if you wanna stay modern, always look for more threads. Why don't you take a 16-thread Ryzen instead of the poor 6-thread i5?
Because gaming..... But gaming won't stay still and wait you for ever to enjoy that..... it will move on and force you to upgrade again. And you will lose tonns of money.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Thanks for the suggestion, I would be happy running on medium settings in most games. Is the i7 9700k really going to make that much difference in gaming compared to the i5?

It's more about doubling what you have for the next 5+ years

 

[4K8KW10]

It's more about doubling what you have for the next 5+ years

In 5+ years, the poor 6-thread i5-9600 will be like a dual-core Pentium right now.

 

[Funky-Melon]

It's more about doubling what you have for the next 5+ years

For games though, I don't think you are at all. A 2600k will do fine for a few years. Only a few games at the moment take advantage of multi core chips and if it's cores you need I wouldn't be advising Intel

For everyone else though, agreed, it's quite an upgrade but if OP just wants to build a gaming machine, it's money better spent on a better graphics card (not to say a 1080 is bad!).

 

[orbitalwalsh]

For games though, I don't think you are at all. A 2600k will do fine for a few years. Only a few games at the moment take advantage of multi core chips and if it's cores you need I wouldn't be advising Intel

For everyone else though, agreed, it's quite an upgrade but if OP just wants to build a gaming machine, it's money better spent on a better graphics card (not to say a 1080 is bad!).

True, but if you like latest AAA games like BFV and assassin's creed that uses cores, it's handy, then you have the clock speed on top .

In theory, if i7 4 core has just started to show its ages at 7 years, 8 core should last the same just fine

 

[4K8KW10]

For games though, I don't think you are at all. A 2600k will do fine for a few years. Only a few games at the moment take advantage of multi core chips

False. The only game that I can think of that doesn't use efficiently multi-core chips is CS: GO.

For everyone else though, agreed, it's quite an upgrade but if OP just wants to build a gaming machine, it's money better spent on a better graphics card (not to say a 1080 is bad!).

A graphics card that will be bottlenecked by the old processors.

True, but if you like latest AAA games like BFV and assassin's creed that uses cores, it's handy, then you have the clock speed on top .

In theory, if i7 4 core has just started to show its ages at 7 years, 8 core should last the same just fine

False. These 7 years passed in this way because there was no competition from AMD and effectively i7-2600K and i7-6700K is one and the same thing with frequency difference.
Just wait next year and 2020 to see how the 32-thread Ryzens will destroy the poor 6-thread i5.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

@4K8KW10

You can have a 40 core ryzen 7... Doesn't mean jack if game and engine isn't coded for it.

Only game that perfectly uses any amount of cores are Lost Planet 2/3 and Ashes of Signularity which is basically a bench mark .

And what's leading multi core coding is... The console

Shame but true . And there are 1000s of games that are only single core coded

 

[tamzzy]

Thanks for the suggestion, I would be happy running on medium settings in most games. Is the i7 9700k really going to make that much difference in gaming compared to the i5?

honestly, there'll be some difference, especially in minimum framerates, to make the gaming experience much smoother
but you're going to be more GPU bottlenecked - see my previous post

imho, the most cost effective upgrade for you would be a used 3770k off member's market
(just don't forget to bios flash first if you have a z68 board)

 

[4K8KW10]

@4K8KW10

You can have a 40 core ryzen 7... Doesn't mean jack if game and engine isn't coded for it.

Only game that perfectly uses any amount of cores are Lost Planet 2/3 and Ashes of Signularity which is basically a bench mark .

And what's leading multi core coding is... The console

Shame but true . And there are 1000s of games that are only single core coded

Old games don't count - we must look at what's coming, not at what was released 5 years ago.
The console will move on to 16 threads soon. What are you going to do with a 6-thread CPU then? Severe micro-stutter and lower settings.
You must have spare cores for the Windows to operate normally, not to run a single game on 100% of the threads.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Old games don't count - we must look at what's coming, not at what was released 5 years ago.
The console will move on to 16 threads soon. What are you going to do with a 6-thread CPU then? Severe micro-stutter and lower settings.
You must have spare cores for the Windows to operate normally, not to run a single game on 100% of the threads.

One of the most useless things I've heard ...
Pretty much can say half of the user base on here play old games, and sure most of steam either play old/indie or games like arma which is based around single core performance .
Even latest games like Hitman2 , can come out shocking with multicore performance compared to its previous version which was coded with both dx11 and 12 .

Don't think consoles will be 12/16 cores, everyone knows their problem, core speed... What hurts them, why they have refresh models and why next one needs to come out faster . Happily take a console with 6 cores instead of 8 but double the speed any day .

All depends on the gamer , if I could save cash going ryzen 2700 to splash out on monitor upgrade and GPU I would. If I was happy with card the .would splash on CPU that would squeeze every ouch out of the GPU .

 

[4K8KW10]

Don't think consoles will be 12/16 cores, everyone knows their problem, core speed... What hurts them, why they have refresh models and why next one needs to come out faster . Happily take a console with 6 cores instead of 8 but double the speed any day .

Refresh models come making use of new process nodes and to update the abysmal Bulldozer derivative that powers them. The new Zen 2-powered console won't have such problems, trust me

 

[Funky-Melon]

False. The only game that I can think of that doesn't use efficiently multi-core chips is CS: GO

Yep and only in the last 2 years has an i7 been needed for the latest AAA titles. My 2500k was fine till I got a GTX 1070 then it bottlenecked. Upgraded to a 2600K and it's absolutely fine in BF5. That was the only game that struggled.

I've yet to see any videos/evidence that suggests a 2600k will bottleneck anything that's out at the moment. If there is such evidence, I expect it's minimal and wouldn't warrant a £500 upgrade...